Since modern companies are very complex today, top management is supported by a computer-aided ERP system in performing planning and control tasks. About competitiveness, the speed at which information is made available is playing an increasingly important role. This can only be achieved with intelligent software and powerful hardware. Because of their ability to promptly map the company in its entirety, Enterprise Resource Planning systems have become indispensable in today’s decision-making practice.
What is ERP?
When you talk about independent ERP consultants, you automatically think of software. To put it simply, enterprise resource planning means first of all controlling the resources available in the company. Examples of resources include
- capital,
- employees and
These must be tactically and strategically controlled, deployed and controlled as the top priority of management. Accordingly, ERP means the organization of all administrative, dispositive and controlling activities of a company.
Objectives of ERP are
- the improvement of organizational processes and structures,
- Faster adaptability to company and market changes
- and the optimization of business processes.
The individual functional areas of the company mentioned, such as sales, materials or human resources management, were operated separately from one another for a long time and were supported by so-called isolated solutions. The problem here was the isolated processing of individual departments, which often resulted in inconsistencies and redundancies. The development of ERP systems was able to counteract this. By interlinking all cross-company processes and procedures, division of labour is easy. To look at the development of the ERP system, you have to go back a few decades. ERP is to a certain extent in the genes of industry, the optimization of the manufacturing process in the 1960s formed the nucleus for the emergence of ERP systems.